Mori Keaki published this essay book the month before her retirement as Top Star of Snow Troupe. It is mainly a memoir of her personal journey in Takarazuka, as well as her early life. Her writing\/formatting style is kind of unique, and I tried to reproduce or reflect it as much as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a really lovely book, that ended up making me cry many times. I hope you enjoy it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a table of contents with links to all the chapters, go here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The Severity of Reality<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The girl from Sendai was too naive\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ah\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n If someone who knows about Takarazuka\u2019s traditions saw this,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Surely their reaction would be,<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018But that\u2019s totally normal!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n But at the time, I didn\u2019t know a single thing about the things they say about the Takarazuka Music School and the Takarazuka Revue, where the world of strictly enforced vertical hierarchy is a protected tradition, or how people would say \u2018If you were going to compare it to anything, it\u2019s like an old Japanese military school, or an athletic training camp\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And now\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018After all, it\u2019s entirely women\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s intended to teach the stage arts, after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018If they didn\u2019t enforce order, then when an issue came up everything would just end up as an even worse mess.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Takarazuka, above everything else is the \u2018order of seniority\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Oh, that\u2019s easy to understand\u2026 That will make lining up for things really simple\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is what you might be thinking, but.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I wandered into the Takarazuka Music School from Sendai, I thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Takarazuka Music School is only a two-year school, with Lower and Upper students, and then, you become a member of the Takarazuka Revue\u2026 And then there will be so many more people senior to us\u2026 That will be really difficult\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, when I thought about about those two years in the Takarazuka Music School\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018I wonder if the Upper and Lower Students will all harmoniously support each other and all learn together as friends\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n I imagined that kind of thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But my sister was more realistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf course it won\u2019t be like that!! Takarazuka is famous for having a really strict vertical structure!\u201d she tried to explain to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI passed~!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was totally dancing on air\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I packed all of my things and cheerfully travelled to Takarazuka for check-in to the \u2018Violet Dormitory\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u2018Violet Dormitory\u2019 is\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Available for Takarazuka Revue members or Takarazuka Music School students who have to live apart from their families; in short, it\u2019s a women\u2019s dormitory. The rent is unbelievably cheap considering current rent prices, and since only women can enter (it\u2019s Takarazuka!) there aren\u2019t any moral concerns either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s the sort of place that if parents with a daughter see it, they\u2019ll smile and think \u2018If it\u2019s here I won\u2019t have to worry about her at all.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Right\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n My mother and I didn\u2019t know anything at all about the \u2018order of seniority\u2019 rule of Takarazuka, you see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So anyway, I arrived at the dorm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhoa\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such a historic building\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words, old!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, as isn\u2019t surprising for a women\u2019s dorm, it was all very clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then the rooms were all rather compact, with all the space allocated efficiently\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n No\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n They were cramped!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n While I was standing there open-mouthed, an Upper Student promptly turned up to check on me!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re a Lower Student, aren\u2019t you!? Stop gaping and unpack your things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnswer properly! Stand up straight and say \u2018Yes!!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh\u2026y-yes!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ah\u2026so strict, so strict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My classmates, who all knew a bit beforehand about Takarazuka\u2019s vertical hierarchy, didn\u2019t seem so shocked at all this, but.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My eyes were completely round and my mouth dropped open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Aren\u2019t we students of the same school? And there\u2019s only one year\u2019s difference between us. It\u2019s only a two-year school, anyway. Why can\u2019t the seniors and juniors just all get along!?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m sure there weren\u2019t any other Takarazuka Music School students apart from me who ever wasted their time thinking over all that\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n No joke, the distance between Upper and Lower Students might as well be that between heaven and earth!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n To make a rather extreme example, the Upper Students have so much power that if an Upper Student were to say \u2018Crows are white\u2019, then a Lower Student would have no choice but to respond \u2018Yes. Crows are white.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of learning about this little by little, to have it all hit me at once, was a massive culture shock for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although all the things that Lower Students are supposed to do, or not allowed to do, are laid out in great detail, I couldn\u2019t remember all of them right away, and was constantly afraid \u2018what if someone gets angry at me!?\u2019, so in my first three days in the dorm I lost 5 kilograms (this is Totally True)1<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was sure that if I were to loiter outside my room I would mess something up and an Upper Student would lecture me\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n So I shut myself up in my room for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And I was so stressed that I couldn\u2019t even eat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018I\u2019ve ended up in a dreadful place here\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although this is a bad comparison, I felt like I had been thrown in prison. But since I was so young (just a kid!!), I didn\u2019t think \u2018Well, I\u2019m going to run away and go home\u2019 at all, just stayed shut in my room\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, I did think a bit that I wanted to go home. But home was so far away! Hahahaha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I can finally say this now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To tell the truth, if someone were to ask me \u2018Would you like to do it again?\u2019 I would shake my head desperately and refuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although I do think it was a valuable experience\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n There aren\u2019t many experiences like it in this world, so in my long life,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once was alright, I suppose\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh,<\/p>\n\n\n\n But as for doing it again, I\u2019ll pass!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Except for maybe\u2026one\u2026day\u2026 Fufufu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for why that is, I\u2019ll tell you that story in the next chapter\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 – I believe and sincerely hope that this is an exaggerated recollection, as this is mathematically highly unlikely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mori Keaki published this essay book the month before her retirement as Top Star of Snow Troupe. It is mainly a memoir of her personal journey in Takarazuka, as well as her early life. Her writing\/formatting style is kind of … Continue reading